French 75mm Field Gun

Note: This artifact is temporarily in storage
and not currently on display.

This was the French Army’s main artillery gun during
World War I. It was introduced in 1897 and was the first
fully integrated quick-firing gun. It also had an innovative
recoil system that made for a smoother operation.

When the US became involved in World War I, space on ships was limited
and manpower had priority over heavy equipment, so American troops often
used French heavy equipment, including this 75mm field gun.

After World War I, it was upgraded with pneumatic tires and improved
ammunition and was still the French Army’s main artillery gun until the
1940s. France also exported this gun to many other counties in the 1930s and
it was used in 1941 in World War II against the Japanese in the Philippines
and in North Africa against the Germans.